HARRISBURG — To promote a healthy start to the new year, Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) officials will be joining hikers at several parks across the state as DCNR again sponsors free, guided hikes in 29 state parks on New Year’s Day as part of America’s State Parks First Day Hikes initiative in all 50 states.

“Our First Day Hikes help remind people that our state parks and forests are open for healthy outdoor adventures in all four seasons, including winter,” DCNR Secretary Cindy Dunn said. “They are a great way to make a resolution to enjoy nature and get more exercise, and keep it on the first day of the year.”

Presque Isle State Park and Jennings Environmental Education Center are offering New Year’s Eve or “Last Night” hikes for those who wish to ring in the New Year mid-hike. These easy hikes, spanning one to three miles, begin at 10:30 p.m. on December 31 and conclude around 12:30 a.m. on January 1.

“Last year, we hosted over 700 participants who hiked more than 1,793 miles in our state parks across the Pennsylvania,” Dunn said. “Whether you’re staying close to home or traveling, join us at one of Pennsylvania’s state parks on New Year’s Day!”

https://www.stateparks.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/PA-SP-logo.jpg300300Lewis Ledfordhttp://www.stateparks.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Americas_State_Parks_Logo-300x188.jpgLewis Ledford2018-12-28 04:15:072018-12-28 04:15:07DCNR Hosts First Day Hikes at Pennsylvania State Parks on New Year's Day

The annual First Day Hike on the Makapu’u Light House Trail at the Kaiwi State Scenic Shoreline on O‘ahu is arguably the most unique of the nearly 1,200 hikes in America’s State Parks each New Year’s Day.

While far from the most difficult, it is one of the best attended with an estimated 700 people making the short, two-mile-roundtrip hike to an overlook, where participants can see the first sunrise of 2019.

What makes it unique is the blend of cultures, which is a hallmark of Hawai‘i.

The trail is an alternative to the popular Pacific Coast Trail

The 6.2 mile Gwynn Creek Loop takes hikers through old-growth forest and along the Oregon Coast Trail, which features views of Cape Perpetua in Oregon, as shown in this April 28, 2015 file photo, The Oregon Parks and Recreation Department is exploring ways to improve the Oregon Coast Trail, a shorter and lesser-known route for backpackers trying to complete the popular Pacific Coast Trail. (Zach Urness/Statesman-Journal via AP, file)

BY KATIE FRANKOWICZ • THE DAILY ASTORIAN

ASTORIA — Dissuaded by snow and dangerous river crossings, some backpackers ditched the popular Pacific Crest Trail in early 2017 and turned to the shorter, less well-known Oregon Coast Trail.

Though the trail was declared “hikeable” in 1988, hikers looking to walk it from end to end struggled to navigate gaps between segments and faced unclear signs, few legal camping options and, in general, a trail that wasn’t quite ready for them. Now the state is looking for solutions.

This month, the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department held several open house presentations across the state to gather feedback from stakeholders about the trail.

Texans love their state parks. But state’s public lands are overcrowded and rapidly deteriorating. Maybe it’s time to take the long view.

On weekends and holidays, it’s now common for visitors to be turned away at Enchanted Rock and Balmorhea as well as Government Canyon, Guadalupe River, Ray Roberts Lake, McKinney Falls, Pedernales Falls, Hueco Tanks and Garner.

More people are enjoying Texas’ 95 state parks than ever. In the 2017 fiscal year, there were 10 million visitors, a 20 percent increase over 2012. Visitation at some destinations has skyrocketed. For example, the number of visitors to McKinney Falls, a small park on Onion Creek in far southeast Austin, nearly doubled in the last decade, jumping from 128,000 in 2008 to 319,000 in 2017.

Public access to some areas of the state’s newest park would cost more than a weeklong pass for an entire family at the Grand Canyon, under a plan approved by the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism.

Anyone who wants to walk through fragile rock formations in Little Jerusalem Badlands State Park would have to buy a $50 permit, the Kansas Wildlife, Parks and Tourism Commission has decided. The park is expected to open sometime in 2019.

The Niobrara chalk formations are the same kind of rock found in the Badlands of South Dakota, dating back millions of years. The 100-foot-deep canyons are part of a 330-a

But the landowners of Little Jerusalem said they haven’t approved the “backcountry access” permit fee and want to keep it affordable.

https://www.stateparks.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Unknown-2.jpeg116186Lewis Ledfordhttp://www.stateparks.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Americas_State_Parks_Logo-300x188.jpgLewis Ledford2018-12-19 15:54:052018-12-19 15:54:05Kansas will charge $50 a day for ‘backcountry access’ to this new state park

PUBLIC LANDS

Bishop aims to have LWCF deal ‘tied up’ early next week

Kellie Lunney, E&E News reporter

Published: Friday, November 30, 2018

Lawmakers are “amazingly close” to a deal that would permanently reauthorize the Land and Water Conservation Fund before the end of the year, the chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee said last night.

“I expect it to happen … and when I am optimistic about something, you realize, that is a unique situation,” said Rep. Rob Bishop (R-Utah), who met yesterday afternoon with panel ranking member Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and Senate counterparts, Energy and Natural Resources Chairwoman Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and ranking member Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), to discuss the fate of LWCF and an end-of-the-year public lands package.

“All four of us sat there and told the staff we want to have a deal and gave them the marching orders to make sure everything is finalized,” Bishop said, adding that he plans to meet with the three lawmakers again soon and hopes to have “everything tied up” by the beginning of next week.

Bishop expects LWCF to be included in a broader public lands package that could be a stand-alone bill or part of another legislative vehicle, such as the year-end spending package that Congress needs to pass by midnight Dec. 7 to avoid a partial government shutdown.

However, Bishop said that it would be “impossible” to retain language in the Senate version of the LWCF bill that calls for full funding of the program — something that many LWCF advocates have lobbied hard for (Greenwire, Oct. 2).

Bishop said if the mandatory spending stays in the final version, “I cannot find the offset, there is no way of doing it, that makes everything dead. That’s the bottom line.”

The Senate bill would provide dedicated annual funding at the authorized $900 million level for the popular program.

Last week, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that backers of the Senate bill would have to find more than $7 billion in spending offsets to get the measure through the chamber (Greenwire, Nov. 21).

Bishop and Grijalva carefully negotiated their bill, which the committee reported out in September. That bill would permanently reauthorize and reform the program but does not address funding (Greenwire, Sept. 13).

Congress let the program lapse Sept. 30, the second time that has happened in the past three years.

Bishop said securing permanent reauthorization of the program was a “win” for Democrats and other LWCF supporters. “I’m excited about the reforms,” he said. “That’s a win for me.”

The House bill would allocate 40 percent of the fund’s money to its state-side program, 40 percent to the federal government and 20 percent for other necessary activities that could include deferred maintenance needs.

Bishop said he talked to GOP leadership this week about LWCF and the public lands package. “They haven’t told me anything yet. They patted me on the head and told me to go home,” he cracked.

‘No-brainer’

The meeting of House and Senate natural resources committee leadership came just hours after Republican and Democratic members gathered outside the Capitol on a chilly morning to fire up LWCF supporters.

They assured the advocates they would press their colleagues to get the program across the finish line before the end of the year.

“Nothing could be more important on the agenda for this lame-duck session,” said Cantwell. “It’s time that Congress not go into 2019 with a big question mark around such an important asset for growing our economy.”

“We’re trying every angle,” Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) told reporters after the press conference, adding that he planned to talk to Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) later in the day “about our efforts” to permanently reauthorize and fully fund the program.

“We’ve got to make progress on this. It amazes me; sometimes Washington, D.C., is the only place in the world where the more people agree on something, the less likely it is to happen,” Gardner said. “And that’s what pisses people off about Washington.”

A national poll conducted this week for the National Wildlife Federation by Public Policy Polling found 74 percent of respondents supported LWCF reauthorization and funding.

The survey, which included 662 registered voters, also found that 63 percent of voters “would feel more favorably” about their member of Congress if he or she voted to renew LWCF. Nearly half of the survey’s participants (48 percent) reported they would feel “less favorably” about their representative if he or she voted for reauthorization of LWCF but not funding.

“This is a no-brainer, folks,” Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) said during yesterday’s Capitol Hill press conference on fully funding and permanently reauthorizing LWCF. “The fact that we are here having to discuss this is absurd.”

“Why are we holding this up right now? I have no clue,” said Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), a member of the House Natural Resources Committee.

But permanent reauthorization in both bills, as well as the mandatory funding component in the Senate legislation, is a sticking point for some House and Senate Republicans (E&E News PM, Sept. 27).

“You’re talking about $900 million with LWCF,” Rep. Garret Graves (R-La.) said last month in an interview with E&E News.

Graves has said he supports a long-term reauthorization of LWCF but isn’t a fan of the House bill that the committee reported out in September.

“I think it’s going to be pretty difficult to get something like this done without bringing some revenues to the table,” he said. “So, is there a deal in there? Yeah, I think that there is. But I do think it’s going to take some structural renovations to the LWCF bill before you get there.”

But Gardner yesterday dismissed the idea that LWCF faces roadblocks.

“Here’s the thing: I don’t think it has that many obstacles,” the Republican said. “If we can get this thing to the floor for a vote, there’s overwhelming support. It has more than 60 votes in the Senate. It has majority support in the House.”

Parks maintenance bill

One major piece of legislation that Bishop does not expect to be in a public lands package this year is a bipartisan, bicameral bill to create a $6.5 billion fund to improve maintenance at national parks. It’s a heavy lift because budgeting rules require the measures to be offset with either revenue increases or cuts in federal spending elsewhere.

The Congressional Budget Office in October estimated the Senate bill would increase spending by $6.4 billion over the next decade.

“They scored it at $7 billion, and that provides a major problem, and I don’t know how to overcome that,” said Bishop. “Their score is abominable.”

Bishop, however, said he thinks Republicans and Democrats will work together next year on pushing something through Congress that provides much-needed funding to clear up massive maintenance backlogs at national parks. The Trump administration also supports the legislation.

Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), a sponsor of the parks bill in the upper chamber, said earlier yesterday it was “a matter of will” as to whether the legislation moves during the lame-duck session. “There’s a possibility of it, but it kind of depends on if the House stays in.”

Reports indicate it’s increasingly unlikely that the LWCF reauthorization will be addressed before the current lame duck session of Congress adjourns in mid-December. Though the related bills cleared committees earlier this year in both the Senate and House, there doesn’t seem to be the necessary appetite to address it this late in the session as you will note in the three reports below. Appropriations appear to be the items most likely addressed. However, some continue to strive to have the proposed LWCF legislation heard … so it’s never give up … or maybe as Will Rogers once referenced, … Congress in session is as when a baby gets hold of a hammer — you never know the direction it will go.

PUBLIC LANDS

Republicans object to House bipartisan LWCF bill

Kellie Lunney, E&E News reporter

Six House Natural Resources Committee Republicans have filed objections to legislation to permanently reauthorize the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which the GOP-led committee reported out in September.

In addition to their concerns about approving the program on a permanent basis and the $900 million annual authorized spending level, dissenting Republicans want a more aggressive overhaul than the current pending legislation advocates.

Dissenting views from the minority are not uncommon on majority-sponsored legislation reported out of committee but are not frequent among members of the same party.

“While we support many aspects of LWCF, including increasing sportsmen’s access and consolidating checkerboards of lands, we have become frustrated over the years that extremist groups have hijacked parts of LWCF to lockup more land and water and prohibit such properties from multiple-use,” wrote the GOP dissenters.

Their wish list includes specific language limiting new federal land acquisition, a proposal to direct some LWCF revenues to the payment-in-lieu-of-taxes program and a provision ensuring private property rights are “properly protected.”

Similar unsuccessful amendments to the LWCF bill, H.R. 502, were offered during the September markup.

The six lawmakers added that failure to include their reforms in a reauthorization of LWCF “may result in the loss of support from dissenting views signers and other colleagues in the House.”

It’s unlikely the views of six Republicans are enough to make much difference to LWCF’s already uncertain fate during the lame-duck session. Still, their opposition doesn’t help.

A broad constituency, from Republican mayors to major conservation groups, has steadily exerted pressure on Congress since the summer to reauthorize the program before certain provisions expired Sept. 30 (E&E Daily, Nov. 26).

But a crowded lame-duck legislative agenda as well as two different LWCF bills circulating through Congress have imperiled the odds that lawmakers can muscle reauthorization over the finish line by year’s end.

569, sponsored by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee’s top Democrat, Maria Cantwell of Washington, would fully fund and permanently reauthorize LWCF.

Last week, the independent Congressional Budget Office released a report estimating the bill would raise the federal deficit by billions of dollars over a 10-year budget window (Greenwire, Nov. 21).

H.R. 502 would permanently renew the program but does not address funding. Also, the House bill, the result of a carefully crafted deal between Natural Resources Chairman Rob Bishop (R-Utah) and ranking member Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.), would allocate 40 percent of money to the fund’s stateside program, 40 percent to the federal government and 20 percent for other necessary activities that could include deferred maintenance needs.

The six Republican dissenters took issue with the 40-40-20 split.

The original 1965 law mandated a 60-40 percent divide between states and the federal government, respectively, but over the years the stateside allocation has fallen below that level, a situation that “has proven erroneous,” the dissenters said.

“State and local communities on the ground are in most instances better stewards of the taxpayer dollar than a faraway bureaucracy in Washington, D.C.,” wrote the group. “The percentage of LWCF revenues allocated to stateside programs should be further increased.”

The members also objected to the LWCF bill being added to the September markup at the last minute, criticizing committee leadership for giving them “a little over 12 hours’ notice” to review the bill’s text and draft amendments (Greenwire, Sept. 13).

“This deviation is all the more striking for being out of character for the committee,” they said. “We request such breaches of protocol not be repeated.”

Murkowski: Finishing LWCF this year ‘challenging’

By Anthony Adragna

11/27/2018 11:25 AM EDT

Senate Energy Chairman Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) said today that completing work on a permanent reauthorization of the Land and Water Conservation Fund looked like a long shot this year since lawmakers had made no progress in addressing spending concerns.

“It’s challenging because of the offset,” she told POLITICO. “Is it possible? Everything’s possible.”

Ranking member Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) told reporters she was not giving up on getting her bill S. 569 (115) across the finish line this year, but acknowledged it might be easier to find support for mandatory spending in the Democratic-led House next year. She pointed out that many Republican senators support her bill with the spending included.

“We’ll have to team up those Republicans with the House members in the new Congress to really get the level of investment we want to see,” Cantwell said.

“I do think we’re going to have more of a favorable environment,” she added. “You’ll have the majority in the House believing in investing in public lands.”

She summed up the state of play: “We just don’t know what we can get out of [Speaker] Paul Ryan before he leaves.”

House lawmakers previously expressed optimism they can get something wrapped up before the end of the year. Their bill H.R. 502 (115) that cleared the House Natural Resources Committee did not include mandatory spending.

PUBLIC LANDS

CBO delivers bad news on Senate land and water bill

Geof Koss and Jeremy Dillon, E&E News reporters

Published: Wednesday, November 21, 2018″

Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chairwoman Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and ranking member Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) have been working on legislation to reauthorize the Land and Water Conservation Fund. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee

Backers of the bipartisan Senate bill that would permanently dedicate funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund must find more than $7 billion in spending-offsets to get the measure through the chamber, giving the House’s competing version a boost in lame-duck negotiations to revive the expired program.

The Congressional Budget Office yesterday confirmed what was long been assumed: The LWCF bill, S. 569, authored by Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), will raise the federal deficit by billions over the 10-year budget window that the independent office uses to score legislation’s deficit impact.

Under pay-as-you-go (pay-go) budgeting rules, any bill that adds to the deficit within 10 years of enactment must be paid for by cutting spending elsewhere in the federal government or raising new revenue.

The inclusion of mandatory spending in the Senate bill will cost the federal government $7.2 billion over 10 years, requiring offsets to cover that amount if the bill comes to the Senate floor.

CBO’s review also found that the Senate bill would raise the deficit by more than $5 billion in each of the four decades after 2029, although those funds do not have to be offset.

Originally created in 1965, the LWCF is a politically popular program that has touched nearly every congressional district in some manner using funds derived from offshore oil and gas activities. The fund has a balance of about $22 billion that can still be used by appropriators to continue LWCF-related activities.

Overhauling the LWCF has been a perennial concern for some Western conservative lawmakers. Those efforts caused the program to lapse for the second time in a five-year period on Sept. 30. The program previously lapsed in 2015, but was ultimately resolved with a three-year authorization patch in the year-end omnibus spending bill.

While there’s broad bipartisan support for permanently reauthorizing the LWCF, Cantwell’s proposal to make funding for the program mandatory — largely removing it from the annual appropriations process — is opposed by key Senate Republicans.

Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chairwoman Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), who also chairs the Appropriations subcommittee that funds LWCF, doesn’t support Cantwell’s proposal, nor do Gulf Coast lawmakers, who fear that the bill could limit revenues from offshore oil and gas drilling that their states are entitled to under a 2006 law. Both programs are funded largely by federal oil and gas revenues from the Gulf of Mexico (E&E Daily, Nov. 13).

Murkowski hinted at those budgetary concerns when her committee advanced the bill during the Oct. 2 markup, in which a collection of five Republican committee members and every Democrat voted together to move the Cantwell bill.

“I want to figure out a way to get [to permanent reauthorization], but I have express concerns about the mandatory spending side of what has been offered today as the main bill from Sen. Cantwell,” Murkowski said at the time. “I have a very serious reservation that with this bill, we provide for permanent mandatory funding without providing for an offset. That is something that we really haven’t had the big discussion about.”

Murkowski and Cantwell included a permanent reauthorization in their broad energy policy bill that passed the Senate in 2016. That provision didn’t contain mandatory spending.

By contrast, the bipartisan House bill, H.R. 502, would permanently authorize the LWCF but continue to have appropriators determine annual spending. As a result, CBO found that bill would have no deficit impacts over 10 years.

CBO’s review of the Senate bill highlights an obscure but important budgetary quirk over LWCF. By statute, appropriators are authorized to spend up to $900 million annually on the program — in theory, a pay-for that is mostly provided by drilling revenues in the outer continental shelf. Some senators have argued that the Senate bill shouldn’t trigger pay-go rules, given that there’s already an existing funding source.

But making that annual spending a mandatory function also ultimately adds to the deficit under CBO’s scoring process, which is a perennial source of frustration for lawmakers.

Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), who opposes Cantwell’s bill, noted the budgeting issue last month. “It is a fig leaf of a pay-for, because you got to pay for the pay-for,” he told E&E News last month.

Lame-duck push

CBO’s score comes as LWCF backers on both sides of the Capitol are aiming to extend the program, which expired Sept. 30.

Outside groups and key House and Senate lawmakers are pressing furiously for an extension, but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) didn’t list LWCF among the outstanding issues he wants to finish in the lame-duck session, which include appropriations and the farm bill.

Additionally, Murkowski is pushing a broad public lands package that includes dozens of stand-alone bills. It’s unclear whether that package could also include LWCF and separate bipartisan legislation that would provide billions to address the National Park Service’s maintenance backlog. The parks bill also contains mandatory spending that will need to be offset.

Cantwell told E&E News before the Thanksgiving recess that she expects LWCF will be extended either in the lame duck or early in the next Congress. Rich Innes Senior Fellow, Meridian Institute

For Immediate Release November 19, 2018

Contact: Linda Lanterman (620) 672-0742, linda.lanterman@ks.gov

America’s State Parks and REI #OptOutside For a Better Black Friday

PRATT – America’s State Parks and specialty outdoor retailer REI Co-op are opting for a better way to spend Black Friday (November 23); one that gets families and friends reconnected with nature and spending time outdoors. They’re choosing to #OptOutside.

On October 23 REI announced that it “will close all 153 stores, process no online payments and pay more than 12,000 employees to #OptOutside with friends and family.” – for the fourth year running. And there are no better or more beautiful places for REI employees – and the nation – to spend time outside than at America’s State Parks.

“As millions of Americans get ready to #OptOutside again this Black Friday, state parks provide a great, close-to-home option for recreation. Kudos to all of the states waiving entrance fees to help people get outside this year, or just encouraging folks to enjoy their state parks” says Marc Berejka, REI director of community and government affairs.

The U.S. is home to some 8,565 state parks, all unique, that offer healthy, stress-free alternatives to crowded Black Friday shopping. From hiking, biking, camping and more, there are countless ways to enjoy time outdoors with family and friends at America’s State Parks. And many state parks across the nation will offer special programs and incentives on Black Friday to make your visit more enjoyable, convenient and affordable.

As of today, the following special #OptOutside promotions will be offered on Black Friday:

Kansas – free day admission to all state parks, and free cabin stay drawing

Minnesota – free day admission to all state parks

New Mexico – free day admission to all state parks

Oregon – free day admission to all state parks

Rhode Island – 1.5–mile guided hike in Chepachet

Tennessee – Ranger-led hikes at all 56 state parks

Virginia – free day admission to all state parks for customers at REI and other select outdoor retailers; photo contest with gift certificate prizes

Washington – free day admission to all state parks

Wyoming – free day admission to all state parks

“America’s State Parks truly are some of the most beautiful places we have to explore and enjoy nature in the U.S. Nowhere else will you find landscapes so untouched by man. And to think you can visit some of these remarkable places for free is even more amazing,” said National Association of State Park Directors president Linda Lanterman. “America’s State Parks add to our quality of life in ways you can’t even imagine – unless you’ve been there. And once you go, you’ll never forget them.”

David Vela encountered little turbulence Thursday during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, pledging to set the standard for accountability and transparency as director of the National Park Service.

On issues ranging from sexual misconduct and other forms of harassment to addressing the nearly $12 billion backlog of maintenance needs across the National Park System, Vela, currently Grand Teton National Park’s superintendent, essentially said the buck stops with him.

Many of the early parks and preservation projects accomplished in the United States were through legislative acts by
the states. There was recognition of this growing responsibility in a relatively new field of public service. It
was through early successes that such American landmarks as Niagara Falls, the California redwoods, and the San
Jacinto battleground were saved for prosperity. A few years later, guided by Stephen Mather, the first National
Conference on [State] Parks to promote state and other public parks was conceived, organized, convened and actively
supported by practically every park and conservation luminary in the country. Held in Des Moines, Iowa in January
1921, it brought together some 200 highly motivated delegates and ignited a “prairie fire” for the development of
public parks across America. From the success of this auspicious convocation of modest beginnings grew a national
state park movement that has achieved unimaginable success.11Adapted from The State Park Movement in America by Ney Landrum

America’s State Parks today include more than 2,200 traditional state parks and more than 8,100 additional
areas that provide wonderful outdoor recreation experiences and unique historical, scientific and environmental
education opportunities. Eighteen and one-half million acres provide for grand diversity – from the vastness of a
half-million acre mountainous landscape, to the colorful intricacies of a living coral reef, to the world’s longest
stalactite formation, to the tallest sand on the Atlantic seaboard, to the historic locations where European
settlers first came to America, and much more. This mosaic of the natural resources and cultural fabric of America
and the splendor of its beauty are enjoyed by 791 million visitors to state parks annually. Both remote and resort
in their offerings, America’s State Parks are indeed yours to explore and experience.

Now, as during the past century and the beginning of the state park movement, the support of partners are invaluable
to success of parks. America’s State Parks have long been recognized their accessibility, and for
their effectiveness and management efficiencies.

Support from individuals, friends groups and corporate America are central to continuing to provide and advance quality
outdoor recreation experiences and opportunities in America’s State Parks and safeguard their importance to the
nation’s environment, heritage, health and economy.